Small Business
by Arahsa Anime
Summary: Our favorite heroes are now the owners of their own businesses. They must face all aspects of adult life: love, marriage, and work. Sakura, for one, has the mysterious bookstore owner to deal with. SxS ExT KxT AU T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! Add-chan here with my new story: Small Business! Please don't hate on my total inability to write Sakura and Shaoran hating eachother! Every single story I've written, the couple is in a situation where they automatically start as friends. I'll try not to move too fast, but I likes to writes the fluffs :D So, here's the first chapter! Enjoy!**

The keys jingled in her hand. It was such a happy sound. The woman smiled as they jingled again. Finally, she could no longer contain her overall excitement, and soon began skipping down the Tokyo streets. To any of the few other people walking down the street at the obscenely early hour of the morning, she appeared to be your regular overjoyed 22 year old college graduate. But she was different. She was Kinomoto Sakura, now owner of her own store Joli.

It wasn't really totally her own idea. It was a store of oddball little cute items that would probably be a big hit with the school girls in the area. It had been inspired by a store called Twin Bells in her small hometown of Tomoeda. She ran a little bit toward the block where her business was located. Hers wasn't the only small business there, probably the entire block and the one in front of it were filled with none-corporate businesses.

Her auburn mid-back length braid flew behind her and her emerald orbs glittered with happiness as she thought of running her own shop. It had been a dream of hers for some time now. She slowed down, wondering if she was dressed appropriatitely for her first day. It had taken her a full hour to settle on her gray tanktop, darker gray shorts, suede knee high boots, black fedora, and colorful beaded necklaces. She shook the thoughts out of her head, this was going to drive her crazy if she kept thinking about it. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the person walking until it was too late and she crashed into them.

"Omigod, I am so, so, SO sorry!" She gasped.

She backed away and surveyed who she had crashed into. It was a relatively tall man, (probably about 6 foot 4) and he had wide shoulders. But it was his face that stole her attention. He had burning (probably with annoyance) amber eyes and his messy brown hair was the kind you just wanted to run your fingers through. She backed up even farther when he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Watch where you're going next time, you dolt." He spat.

"Asshole." She muttered.

Her little store was in sight. Her heart literally elevated at the sight of it. It was a bright green color with white shutters on the windows. The door was white as well and the roof shingles as well. The sign was nailed above the door and the name of the shop was written in light pink bubble letters with a heart to dot the 'i'. On the inside, it was even cuter. The knickknacks were all on black seemingly wrought iron shelves. The walls were a light orange and the floors were wood. The counter was close to the door and the more valuable items were behind the counter.

She was unlocking the door when she heard a voice she had grown so used to hearing.

"Sakura!" It called.

She turned around happily to see a girl with long wavy raven hair and amethyst eyes running toward her. The woman was wearing light wash skinny jeans, a printed blouse, and red flats.

"Tomoyo!" She answered happily as she hugged her best friend.

"Is this your store?" The raven haired girl asked.

"Yeah. It's too bad that ours are so far away from eachother."

"Yeah. Hey, lunch with me today?"

"No, I have plans." Sakura said sarcastically, "Of course! It's like our tradition!"

Tomoyo waved as she headed off toward her own store. Sakura soon went into her shop, leaning behind the counter. She sighed, bored. It was too early for anybody to stop by yet, and her main crowd probably wouldnt be in until four, when schools got out. She clicked her pen unconciously on the countertop. It continued this way until lunchbreak, except every once in a while a father would pop in looking for something for his little daughter. She sighed as she locked the door.

This was not going as she had expected so far.

It was supposed to be exiciting. No doubt, the shiney newness and happiness of the idea still had yet to wear off. It was just... Nothing really big had happened yet. And she had always expected something big to happen. Like say, meeting the love of her life. Unless that jerk she had bumped into in the street was the love of her life, which she highly doubted. She laughed a little bit at the thought. She walked down the streets toward her friend's boutique wondering what it would be like. Knowing Tomoyo, it would be outrageous.

"Sakura!" She heard again.

"Tomoyo!" She called.

Tomoyo ran up to her, out of breath. She wiped stray hairs out of her face. The raven haired girl quickly took her arm to show her the boutique for a quick second. The exterior was a lavender color and the inside was purple and blue stripes while the floors were a clean white tile. The shop's name was Alicera and it was a dress shop run by the up and coming designer.

"Come on! There's a cute cafe down the street that I want to check out!"

Before Sakura could say anything, she was being dragged by her best friend of four years. It didn't take very long for them to get to there. It was a cute place by the name of Pomme that seemed to serve multiple french treats. They sat at a table and ordered crepes and coffee. Soon they fell back into the routine they had established in college: talking about the worst points of the ay so far.

"It was awful! She had the _worst_ B.O. and she almost tried on all the dresses in the store! Can you imagine trying to explain that to my customers?"

"My day has been worse! At least you had customers! Plus, I ran into the total jackass on my way this morning."

"That, sucks, my friend. I but hey, only a few more hours until four."

"Yeah. Hey, when am I going to meet this boyfriend of yours?"

"Soon. In fact, you can meet him tommorow night, if you want."

"That'd be cool. Really cool, actually."

It continued this way until Sakura happened to glance at her watch.

"Is that the time? Tomoyo, I've got to go if I'm going to open up on time."

Tomoyo nodded, and Sakura dished out the cash she owed for lunch. Sakura walked out Pomme as quickly as possible. On her way, she noticed a small bookstore. She popped in for a minute so that she'd have something to entertain herself with during the slow hours of business. She moved to the best-seller section and took down a copy of _The Color Beyond_. She flipped on the back and scanned the description. It was about some artist who searched to find the meaning of life and eventually fell in love with some model chick.

"Seems interesting enough." She shrugged.

She made it to the counter and heard one voice that she really did not want to hear.

"Oh, it's you."

She looked up to find the man she had bumped into that morning staring straight at her.

"Of course." She muttered.

"What was that?" He asked.

"None of your business. Can you just please ring this up?"

"Whoa, touchy."

"Please, I can't be late."

"And what if I want you to be late? What then?"

She sighed and looked him in the eye. Once again she was caught by the utter intensity of his eyes. But right now, she didn't have the time to stare. She put on her most adorable face and tried again.

"Can you pretty please ring this up so I can go back to work?"

"Let me think... no."

He was enjoying this. She could tell.

"You mentioned work. So, just to make sure that you don't just use this as a distraction to not do your work, why don't you come over when you're off?"

She thought about it for a quick minute. Did she really want to see this guy again? No. But then again, she had heard of the book from a lot of people who said it was good. And she really liked the sound of the storyline. This was the last copy, and it was sold out everywhere else.

"Fine."

"What time do you get off?"

"Eight."

"Alright, I'll hold this for you and you go off to work now."

She pouted, not appreciating the fact that he was treating her like a child. But she went anyway, not wanting to be late.

"Shaoran Li, if we stop getting female customers because of your endless toying with them, I'll kill you." A blue eyed man stated.

"Oh, shove it, Eriol. This one's interesting." A playful smile on the man's lips.

Sakura repeated her morning routine until the clock hit 4:20. A few girls in sailor-style middle school uniforms walked past, but backed up to the window. They chatted for a while, conferring whether or not they should go in, but finally they did.

"Wow, how cute!" One with pigtails exclaimed, holding a bear.

"Yeah."

"Welcome to Joli, girls. Feel free to look around." Sakura smiled.

A couple more groups of middle and high school girls popped in the times between 4:30 and 7:20. It was then that the crowd of uncles, father, and grandparents returned looking for plushies for their little girls. Eight o'clock rolled around soon enough, and she sighed with realization that she was going to have to see that man again. She turned off all the lights and locked the door, double checking to make sure it was really locked.

Shaoran sat on the steps to the store, holding the book in his hands. He tapped his foot impatiently. Time? 8:10. Ten minutes he'd been sitting out there, waiting for this girl. Ten whole minutes of his precious time.

"Unbelievable." He said under his breath.

"Hey!" He heard.

He looked up, annoyed.

"Took you long enough." He said, hitting her lightly on the forehead with the book.

"Well, sor-ry, but I had to lock up!"

"Yeah, yeah. Here's your book. And believe me, it wasn't easy for me to hold it. There were a whole bunch of cuter girls asking for it."

"Oh, shut up."

"So mean. And even after I held this for you."

She huffed again, arms crossed. He chuckled.

"You're like a child, you know that?"

"I AM NOT!"

"Sure, sure."

"Here. Here's your money. Now can I have my book?"

"Nah. Give me a kiss first."

"Are you crazy? No!"

"Why not? I'm sexy, aren't I?"

"I have a boyfriend, that's why."

"Really? Is he blind?"

"No!"

"He's deaf then?"

"No!"

"Huh, then I don't understand why he'd be dating _you_."

"Douchebag!" She spat.

"Now, no-"

"You know what? Screw it. Keep the money and keep the damn book. I don't even want it anymore." She said crossly, walking out of sight.

The blue-eyed man came out the door, a laughing smile on his face.

"Nice." he commented.

"She was too touchy anyway."

"And you wonder why you're single?"

"Can it or I'll shove a cannon ball up your ass."

**Yes, a cannon ball. It actually took me a long time to come up with that. Lack of wit, my friends. Again, I apologize for any and all errors, please feel free to correct me or not if you don't want to. I'm perfectly fine with you mocking me from behind a screen. But, seriously, please review if you feel like this is worth updating. See you next chapter! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Mou, this chapter is so short compared to the previous one! But I figured that where I ended it would be a good place to stop. I would like to thank EchizenRyoma, Ametyist213, and DN Angel and Cardcaptor Sakura for their reviews. And I just realized that I have no idea what Shaoran is. I just sort of combined what everyone makes him (heartless ass, playboy, sarcastic mr. mr.) and came up with this... 0.o**

**Enjoy!**

"Hi, Tomoyo! Sorry I'm late!" Sakura said happily.

"Well, you came. Oh, god. What are you wearing?" The raven haired girl fussed.

Sakura frowned. She thought her pale pink peasent blouse and skinny jeans looked fine. She was meeting her best friend's boyfriend. This guy was taken, so why'd she have to dress to impress? Realization dawned on her face and she narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Are you trying to set me up with someone?"

"What? Psssh. No. Pssh. What are you talking about?" Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

"Well, it doesn't matter, because I've already met someone."

"What? Spill!"

"I'll tell you later, tonight is about me meeting your man and finding out whether or not he's a good guy for you."

Tomoyon opened the door to her apartment only to find no one there. Her brows furrowed a bit until a blue eyed man came out of her room, sighing.

"Well, Shaoran officially refuses to leave your room because he believes we set him up."

"Eriol, this is my friend Sakura, and apparently Shaoran is not alone in the sentiment of being set up." Tomoyo giggled.

"Hello, I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa."

"Sakura Kinomoto. Nice to meet you."

"Well, if you'll excuse me for one second, I'm going to drag out my friend Shaoran Li, so you can at least meet him."

Eriol walked happily back into Tomoyo's room. Some mutters and whispers could be heard. Both girls jumped in suprise at the shout of "YOU WOULDN'T _DARE!_". They looked at each other curiously. Some more muttering could be heard, then a reluctant sigh as two sets of footsteps emerged. Eriol came out, another scarily happy smile with a slouching and muttering brunette.

"Don't you just love blackmail?" Eriol said happily.

Shaoran raised his head to retort when a certain person caught his attention. Sakura looked at him, not believeing it at all.

"YOU!" They shouted in unison.

"So you two know each other?" Tomoyo asked, amused.

"This is the guy I was telling you about!" Sakura gaped, pointing at Shaoran.

"Oh, so you've been talking about me? And anyway," He said, wrapping an arm around her waist, "it's rude to point."

"Get _off_, you freak!" She spat, pushing his side.

"Shaoran, is Sakura the girl you were badgering yesterday?" Eriol asked seriously.

"I was _not_!"

"He's right, badgering is an understatement."

"Shut up!"

"Why don't you?"

"Why don't you?" Shaoran mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

"Alright, children, that's enough." Tomoyo giggled.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at Shaoran, which he copied. Eriol sighed, and nudged Shaoran sharply between the shoulder blades with his elbow.

"_What?_" Shaoran turned on his heel.

"Don't you have something to say?"

"No, I don't recall having anything to say, not really."

Eriol narrowed his eyes and grabbed Shaoran by his ear. He smiled that same unnaturally gleeful and creepy smile at his friend.

"I think you do, remember what we talked about?"

Shaoran sighed, and picked up a book from the table. He held it out to her, looking away.

"Here, and...so...sorry about yesterday..." He sighed.

She took it recognizing it as the book she had left with him the previous night. She kept her eyes glued to the floor.

"Thanks..." She muttered.

Her attention was averted by the cheerful ring of her phone. She looked at the screen to see who it was and turned pink.

"U-uhm, Tomoyo, do you mind if I take this?" She asked, looking at her friend.

"Not at all."

Sakura walked out the door into the hall, and a faint 'Hi, honey' could be heard as she began her conversation. Eriol shut the door behind her, and turned to glare at his friend.

"Real nice, Shaoran."

"What?"

"I'll tell you what. Your attitude, that's what."

"What's wrong with my attitude?"

"You're being a tool, and you're acting like a child."

"I am _not_!"

Eriol gave his friend another look. A look that easily read annoyance and reprimanding. Shaoran glared. He hated being given that look, and the only person who could do it better than Eriol was, well... Shaoran shook his head and looked back down at the ground.

"You had better be careful." Came the melodic voice of Tomoyo.

Shaoran looked at her questioningly. Careful? What for?

"If you keep your attitude the way it is, the love of your life could come up and pass you by if you keep acting this way."

Shaoran snorted, to which Eriol hit him in the back of the head. Love didn't exist. His parents sure as hell had shown him that. Tomoyo and Eriol thought they were happy together. Yeah, maybe they would be for a while. But eventually they would come crashing down, just like everything else always did.

The door opened again as the auburn haired girl entered the apartment again. She looked from person to person, confused. The tension in the room was so unnaturally thick it was almost suffocating.

"Um, did something happen?" She asked meekly.

"No." Tomoyo answered too quickly.

Though the girl's face showed concern, she said nothing. They stood for a bit in silence. Sakura shifted uncomfortably onto one foot. Her eyes shifted between the two men in the room, feeling most of the tension arising from them.

"U-um!"

Both men looked at Sakura, who suddenly found it very difficult to speak. Both of their gazes were intense. Shaoran's was easily the scariest. She started sweating a little bit, regretting opening her mouth. She chided herself in her mind for her stupidity. Eriol, taking the hint of her nervousness, dropped his gaze and walked over to give his girl a kiss. But Shaoran continued staring, which only frightened her more. She shivered and took a small step back. Shaoran turned and left without even bothering to say goodbye.

"How rude." Tomoyo muttered.

"You'll have to forgive him, love. He's always been that way, but..." Eriol whispered.

"I'm gonna go." Sakura said, nerves still a little frazzled.

"Bye Ms. Kinomoto. It was nice to meet you." Eriol said cheerfully.

"You too. Bye Tomoyo!"

**Shaoran's POV**

I walked into my apartment, frustrated. Had I been a tool? Was I acting like a child? Was Tomoyo right? More importantly, why did I even care? This Kinomoto girl was nothing more than that. A girl. Just another face in the crowd.

Yet she was different. She had been different since the moment I met her. Most girls were too busy gawking at my looks to even care if I had insulted him. Most girls would act like sluts around me. Most girls would have kissed me if I told them to. Most girls would have pressed on their friend for details on what had happened. But most importantly, no girl would have called me a douchebag or an asshole.

But this Kinomoto girl had called me both. And she hadn't done any of the things that other girls would have. The way she acted around me was as though I was the most offensive thing in the world. Her actions made her thoughts so brutally honest.

A small part of me noted the fact that I had scared her back in the apartment. I knew I should probably apologize. Again I wondered why I even cared. I told myself what I had told Eriol the night before. She's interesting.

**No. It's not what you think. Shaoran is not falling for her yet, not even a crush, not even a desire for friendship or acquaintence-ness. He's just noting what we all know. That Sakura is a different and interesting person. Sorry for the shortness again. I will update ASAP and I might start working on the next chapter already. Or not. Still have two other chapters to finish for my other stories before I write anything else.**

**Please review. I would love to hear your opinion on points I need to improve on.**


	3. Chapter 3

**WEWT! Finished this chapter in a few days. Please forgive all fugly typos and fugly writing in general XD**

"Sorry, Sakura. I'm having a lunch date with Eriol today." Tomoyo said apologetically over the phone.

"No, no. It's ok. I'll take this chance to have lunch with Toshio."

"Thanks for understanding. Bye."

"Bye."

Sakura hung up and sighed as she looked at the phone. Things with Toshio weren't going very well. Nothing really was. Business hadn't picked up and this was the third lunch that Tomoyo had canceled this week. She looked at her phone hard, trying to decide whether she should swallow her pride and eat alone or risk another blowup with her boyfriend.

Toshio... Sure, he was handsome, with his neat black hair and pale blue eyes. He could be sweet sometimes, but other times he could be a real dick. He was too forward for her taste and he had some serious anger issues. One of the doors to his apartment had a whole in it the size of his fist from one of their fights.

"Hello?" His deep voice came after 4 rings.

"Hi, honey."

"Hey."

"Um, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me?"

"Oh, sorry. I've got a, um, lunch meeting."

"Okay." She sighed.

After their goodbyes, she hung up and looked around. How far had she gone without realizing it? She whirled around at a sudden surprised 'Hey'.

"Shaoran." She stated.

"Something wrong?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you're acting wierder than usual, if that's even possible."

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled lightly at his joke. Her brother used to tell her the same thing when she was having a problem. She shook her head unconciously, as she always did when the comment came up.

"Alrighty then. Do you wanna have lunch with me?"

"What?"

"Do. You. Want. To. Have. Lunch. With. Me?" He said slowly, as though he were talking to a child.

"But you hate me."

"I don't hate you. You're just fun to tease. You don't hate me, do you?"

"No, I just find you very annoying." She smiled.

"So, lunch?"

She tapped her chin, thinking. Finally, after a few minutes she nodded. He grabbed her arm and dragged her to Pomme.

"Pomme? How do you know this place?"

"Well, I saw it a few days ago and I wanted to try it out. I figured it'd be awkward to walk in as just a guy, so I needed a girl to go with me."

"Oh, so you're just using me." She said, pretending to be offended.

"I'm not using you. I'm treating you to lunch."

"Well, why me? I'm sure you have plenty of prospects."

"To put it simply, they're all whores."

Sakura giggled at this. Shaoran watched her out of the corner of his eye and found himself liking that small little laugh. It was pleasing and the right volume. Not like the whores who laughed fakely at everything, her's was nice and it had to be earned.

"What about you? Where's señor boyfriend?"

Her face fell, and he immediately regretted bringing him up.

"He's got a lunch meeting."

"Oh. Well, then, he's really missing out."

"Thanks." She said, smiling sadly.

"He better watch out, I might steal you away."

"Oh, really? And how do you plan to do that?" She asked, really smiling now.

"By using my irresistable charm." He said leaning over the table and into her face.

"Er, no thanks." She said, blushing slightly.

He shrugged as he moved back to his side of the small table. When the waitress came, Shaoran ordered brioche and Sakura ordered palmier. Both had coffee for a drink. The two sat in a relatively awkward silence.

"U-um!" Sakura said.

Shaoran's intense eyes looked into her's and she had a sudden flashback of the night the week before. She muttered a small nevermind, and went back to fiddling with her thumbs.

"You're always doing that. Starting with um, and then when I look at you, you never say anything."

"You're pretty intimidating."

"Well, you have to learn to deal with that. Intimidating people are going to come into your life at a constant pace, and you'll have to talk to them."

"O-ok."

"So, what were you going to ask?"

"How did you and Eriol meet?"

"We were in highschool and were assigned to work on a science project together and we were fast friends. How about you and Tomoyo?"

"We met at a family reunion. Turns out we're like, second cousins or something."

Shaoran nodded and picked at his brioche before putting a piece in his mouth.

"Holy shit. This is amazing!" He said, incredulous.

"I know, this place is fantastic." Sakura sighed, dipping a palmier in her coffee before biting into it.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Shaoran asked hesitantly.

Sakura shook her head slightly, so slight that Shaoran almost didn't catch it. He asked if she wanted to talk about, and she shook her head again. Thinking on a way to cheer her up, he broke off a piece of his brioche and offered it to her. She looked at him questioningly.

"I want you to try it, you dolt." He laughed.

"Okay..." She said, popping it into her mouth.

"Omigod, you were right, that is amazing! Try some palmier?"

"Alrighty."

She smiled and he congratulated himself for correcting his previous blunder. He put a piece in his mouth and his eyes widened at the flavor. She looked at her watch and gasped.

"Late?" He smirked.

"Yeah. How much was mine?"

"Don't bother, I'll pay."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, now get going."

"Thanks!" She smiled, hugging him happily.

"Er, no problem." He blushed, smelling her cherry blossom perfume.

She waved as she ran in the direction of her store, waving goodbye. Once she was gone, he shook his head and laughed.

"She has worse mood swings than my all my sisters combined."

Sakura smiled behind the counter, recalling the events from her lunch break. Shaoran could care, which surprised her. She'd figured that he was just an immature stuck up ass, but he wasn't. Thinking about it, she realized how different Shaoran was from Toshio. Toshio didn't have much beyond his looks, and even those couldn't compare to the brunette's. But Shaoran also had a personality. She was snapped out of her thoughts when a couple walked through the door.

She didn't know the woman, who had platinum blonde hair and an almost anorexic figure. But it was the man, who had his arms around her romantically that caused her eyes to widen. The one name she uttered made him turn around guitily.

"T-Toshio?"

**Did you think it was Toshio? I considered for a brief moment making it Eriol but then I was like, nah. So that actually wasn't sposed to happen until later, but I got this crazy idea last night, so pay attention to the little description about him, and maybe you can figure out what's going to happen :) Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Urg, this took waaay too long to write. But I'm excited for the next chapter :) We might just get a visit from the fluff fairy. But anyway, here it is, complete with drunk people!**

"Hello? Oh, hi Sakura!" Tomoyo greeted on the phone cheerfully.

Eriol smiled at his girlfriend from behind the counter of the bookstore. Shaoran rolled his eyes and went back to stocking the shelves, trying not to be obvious that he was listening to Tomoyo's conversation.

"Wait, what?" Her brows furrowed.

"I'll be right there, okay? Don't move."

Tomoyo hung up the phone as Shaoran moved back to the counter.

"Eriol, I'm going to have to cancel tonight."

"What happened, sweetheart?"

"It's Sakura. She said that Toshio walked into her shop with some blonde chick."

Shaoran glared at the counter. He'd meant what he'd said at lunch, the man was really missing out. Sakura was one of those gems that so many people toss aside looking for something better. Of course, he wasn't saying that he was interested in her romantically, hell no. She seemed like the type that would support you and help you with anything. A good friend.

Obviously this Toshio idiot couldn't see that.

"Of course, go ahead. Sakura needs you right now."

Tomoyo gave him a quick peck on the lips and waved to Shaoran before she left. Shaoran glared at the peeling wood on the counter. He picked at some of it as Eriol stared at him. If Shaoran had looked up at his friend, he probably would have smacked that confident smirk off his face. For Eriol knew, that this slight annoyance at an ex-boyfriend would soon develope into a burning hate for any man who even looked at the auburn haired girl in a way that did not read family relation or friend only.

"Do you want to go?" Eriol asked quietly after a few awkward minutes.

"Where?" Shaoran asked absentmindedly.

"To Joli, you know, see if you can help Sakura?"

"N-no. I'm sure that Sakura is going to have all her friends there and she doesn't want me."

"She could probably use the extra support and assurance that all men aren't the same."

After another long silence from Shaoran, Eriol made a suggestion.

"How about we walk by to check and see how she's holding up, and if she needs more people we'll stop in."

Shaoran nodded, and with that they headed off.

Sakura explained the hellish week to her friends, whom she had known for years. There was Rika, who was like the mother of the group. She had beautiful chocolate hair in a bob that curled just under her chin, big brown eyes, and pale skin. Sakura had met her during her sophmore year in college. Then there was Naoko, who had brown hair and dark brown eyes that were always covered by her glasses. They had met through Rika after graduation. Finally there was Chiharu, whom she had known since elementary school. The woman had caramel hair and hazel eyes. She was dating another old classmate of hers, Yamazaki, who had spikey black hair and dark gray eyes that were almost black.

Though the couple were usually together, Yamazaki had made Chiharu go alone. He'd figured, just as Eriol had, that Sakura needed feminine support at the moment.

"What a whore." Chiharu rolled her eyes.

"Which one?" Rika asked.

"Both of them." Naoko replied.

"It doesn't matter, Sakura. He wasn't worth your time in the first place." Tomoyo nodded.

"You know what we need?" Chiharu smiled.

"What?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Some beer and good music."

"No, Chiharu! You have the _worst_ taste in bars." Naoko groaned.

"Not a _bar_. I figured we could just go to the convenience store by my place, get some beers, and vent in room 118 at the 9th Avenue complex."

"Room 118 at the 9th Avenue complex?" Sakura asked.

"My apartment, silly."

"You mean you and Yamazaki's apartment." Tomoyo smiled devilishly.

"He doesn't come over _that_ often." Chiharu blushed.

"Sure he doesn't." Sakura smiled.

"Now, now you two. Yamazaki's comings and goings in Chiharu's apartment are none of your business." Rika reprimanded.

"But what about Chiharu's comings and goings in Yamazaki's apartment?" Naoko teased, causing Chiharu to turn an even brighter shade of red.

Sakura giggled and pinched her friend on the cheek as they walked out of the store. Chiharu gave her an annoyed look. Sakura looked at her with a cheerful smile, cheek still in hand. Chiharu continued with her annoyed look, refusing to waver this time. Sakura continued with her smile as well. After a while though, the smile grew infectuous and Chiharu couldn't help but smile herself.

"Dammit, Sakura!" She sighed.

"What?"

"Why do you keep making me smile?"

"I dunno." Sakura shrugged.

Chiharu shook her head and the group walked on to the convenience store, unaware of the three pairs of eyes watching them from the shadows.

"I have to ask if you know those girls." A voice said from behind them.

Shaoran whipped around and narrowed his eyes. Who was this person?

"Forgive me. I'm dating one and the other I've known for a while. They're precious to me, so I can't allow them to be stalked." A man with spikey black hair and happily closed eyes explained.

"I'm dating Tomoyo, and Shaoran is an aquaintance of Sakura's. He was worried about how Sakura was feeling, so we stopped by to check in on them." Eriol smiled.

"Ah, I see. Forgive my rudeness, my name is Yamazaki Takashi, but the girls just call me Yamazaki."

"I'm Hiiragazawa Eriol."

"Li Shaoran."

"Nice to meet the two of you."

They watched as the girls came out of the store and could easily here their words.

"But what about Chiharu's comings and goings in Yamazaki's apartment?" A girl with glasses teased.

Yamazaki turned so red he was practically glowing in the dark as the two other men eyed him. Shaoran snorted a bit in laughter, and Eriol hit him in the back of the head.

"Speaking of apartments, did you know that the first ones were in Egypt? The pyramids were the first-" Yamazaki started, before he was interrupted by Shaoran.

"Shhh!"

The man pouted slightly, before looking back at the retreating figures of the girls. Shaoran sighed in relief, she wasn't having an absolute breakdown. Then again, she didn't exactly look like she felt the relationship was going anywhere when they'd had lunch together.

"Well, it was nice to meet you two gentleman. Can I meet you two at the 9th Avenue complex tommorow morning?" Yamazaki asked.

"Um, ok?" Shaoran answered questioningly.

"Bring any materials you can that can help with a hangover."

And with that, Yamazaki left, leaving the two other men more confused than ever.

"_Now everybody's died! So until our tears have dried, we'll drink and drink and drink and then we'll drink some more._" Sakura sang laughing.

The small giggles grew into mass laughter when Naoko fell out of her chair. Sakura was bright red, Tomoyo was still nursing her first beer, Rika had already passed out, and Chiharu was naming songs off the top of her head for Sakura to sing.

"Oooh! I got one!" Chiharu slurred.

"Name it, and I betcha I'll know it." Sakura smirked.

"The More You Ruv Someone!" Chiharu said decisively.

"Hah! _The more you ruv someone, the more you want to kirr dem. The more you ruv someone, the more he make you cly..._, Chiharu, you really should know better than to name something from Avenue Q." Sakura scolded.

"Sakuraaa! Smile for the cameraaa!" Tomoyo called.

Sakura looked over to her only buzzed friend to find a video camera in hand. She looked confused for a minute before she shook her head, smiling lightly.

"Geez, 'Moyo, you film _everything_." She sighed.

"Hahaha! I have one that there is no way you'll know, ever!"

"Try me."

"Running Up That Hill, the _Placebo_ version."

Sakura blinked for a second. She frowned a little bit as she thought.

"Give up?"

Sakura shushed her friend as she started thinking again. For a second she looked almost sober. She snapped her fingers and sang the melody. Chiharu pouted, she hadn't thought that Sakura would get it. Sakura blinked, drowsiness finally taking over from the 3 beers she had downed. She settled on the couch and closed her eyes, quickly falling into a sound sleep. Tomoyo smiled, pointing the camera at her friend.

"'Moyooooo!" Naoko called from the bathroom.

"I feel si-" The statement was cut off by the sound of wretching.

Tomoyo sighed as she shut off her camera and placed it on the coffee table next to her sleeping friend.

**I love those three songs, and the first two are HIlarious! Links here:**

**Another Irish Drinking Song: .com/watch?v=vz9nHvmdAb4**

**The More You Ruv Someone: .com/watch?v=gIbiKkhwXtk**

**Running Up That Hill: .com/watch?v=YnZf0Ep57Rk**


	5. Chapter 5

***Peeks from behind a nice, safe, sturdy brick wall* Erm, hiya! 2 months... SHIT. I'm sorry, guys, I really am. I'll try and be more punctual with updates :(**

Shaoran saw Yamazaki and Eriol standing in front of the building. He had a grocery bag full of ginger capsules, bananas, and honey. The three men went up the elevator silently and when they arrived on the second floor, got out just as quietly. The air was very awkward, until Yamazaki started to speak.

"Did you know that chocolate is supposedly good for hangovers? That's why Columbus used it, you know. He was a heavy partier."

"And the men on his ship had hangovers all the time." Eriol added, smiling deviously.

"That is bullshit. I've tried, and believe me, it doesn't work." Shaoran sighed.

"Well, anyway, I think you can guess why I had you boys bring hangover remedies."

"Tomoyo doesn't drink a whole lot, but I'm guessing the other girls can't handle their liquor?" Eriol supplied.

"Exactly. I've drank with them before. Rika passes out like a rock, Chiharu either gets really angry or daring, Sakura gets musical, and Naoko projectile vomits all over the place. And all four have no idea their limit is."

"So we're helping aid this awful scenario?" Shaoran asked.

"Yes," Yamazaki said as he unlocked the door, "Prepare yourselves."

Shaoran blinked when the door opened. The apartment was a wreck. Beer cans littered the floor, a chair was tipped over, music was still playing, a girl was curled up in an armchair, and another's foot could be seen in the bathroom. Yamazaki sighed.

"Well, this is worse than I thought it would be."

"Eriol, take care of Tomoyo and Rika. I'll get Naoko and Chiharu. Shaoran, you get Sakura. She's not a lot to handle when she's hung over, but whatever you do," Yamazaki warned, "don't let her leave to go to work. You have to convince her to take the day off."

Shaoran nodded and began to move about the apartment as silent as possible, looking for the woman. He saw her from the corner of his eye, sleeping on the couch. He stared at her for a while, she looked like an angel when she was asleep. Something else caught his eye on the coffee table.

"A video camera?" He murmured.

He looked around before he pressed PLAY. On it, he found the girl he knew so well completely drunk. Another one of her friends was naming songs off the top of her head for her to sing. Finally, they came to the last one.

"Running Up That Hill, the _Placebo_ version."

After a few minutes pause, the woman started uncertainly:

"_You don't wanna hurt me, But see how deep the bullet lies, Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder, There's a thunder in our hearts, baby, So much hate for the ones we love, Tell me, we both matter, don't we?_"

He smirked. Despite the fact that the song was sad, the way she sang it made it very Sakura-y.

He shut off the camera and put it back on the table when he heard the sounds of her stirring. She cracked her eyes open and groaned, clutching her head. She sat up slowly, still clutching her head.

"Headache?" Shaoran asked, slightly amused.

Sakura shrieked in surprise, and then moaned from the sharp pain in her head that was its reward. Shaoran shook his head, smiling.

"Why are you here? More importantly _how_ did you get in here?"

"Yamazaki let me in, and I came with a hangover repair kit."

"Oh. Well, then."

"Hold on one quick second."

Shaoran got up and looked for his friend. He found him in the bedroom, holding his girlfriend with one arm and handing her friend a dark red-orange fruit. He called him, causing the man to look up.

"Got any more persimmon? Sakura's got a raging headache." He asked.

Eriol looked in his bag, and produced one of the fruits that Rika was biting into. He tossed it to Shaoran, who caught it just before it hit the ground. He thanked his friend and went back into the living room, where Sakura was attempting to get ready.

"I don't think so." He stated simply.

"But-" Sakura began to protest.

Shaoran put a finger over her lips, causing her to blush slightly and silence. He smirked and showed her the fruit. She looked at him, confused.

"Eat it, you dolt."

"I am not a dolt!" She protested.

"Whatever you are or aren't, eat it."

"Why?"

"It'll help with your headache."

Her eyes widened and she took it. She bit into it, juices running down her chin a little. He sighed and wiped it with a napkin. The pain in her head dulled slowly. It was still there, throbbing, but it was less pronounced and she could get through her day perfectly fine.

"Thank you, Shaoran. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for work."

"No."

"What?"

"You're not going to work today."

"But I have _obligations_, Shaoran."

"I think you can afford to miss a day."

"I don't-"

"But I do, so you're staying here."

"Here?"

"Well, we can go to your apartment if you want, but I'm going with you to make sure you don't go to work."

She pursed her lips and stared at him coldly. He smiled when she relented and allowed him to lead her back to the couch. Yamazaki appeared, head poking around the corner.

"Li, do you have anything for stomachaches?"

"Yeah, some ginger capsules."

"Perfect, can I have some?"

"Take the bottle."

"Thanks, mate."

Shaoran stared out of the corner of his eye at the girl sitting next to him. He got up from the couch, and she followed.

"Watcha doing?" She asked.

"Making banana milkshakes for everyone."

"Can I help?"

"Yeah, chop up these bananas."

Shaoran gave her half of the amount he had brought. They both got out knives and conversed as they chopped.

"Does this do anything specific for hangovers, or are you just making them for the hell of it?"

"It helps with hangovers. The banana calms the stomach, honey builds up depleted sugar levels, and the milk soothes your stomach and rehydrates your system."

Sakura nodded, taking the information in. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again.

"So, where are you from?"

"Hong Kong, you?"

"Tomoeda. It's a small town that's an hour train ride from here."

Shaoran took the chopped up bananas and dropped them in the blender. He added some milk and honey. Right before he started the machine, he warned Sakura to cover her ears. She did, but the loud sound of the blender still pained her a little. She flinched, and Shaoran stopped blending for a few seconds to stare at her.

"Go ahead, it's not done yet."

"Why don't you go in the bedroom? I'll call you out when they're done."

"You really are stubborn." He sighed as she shook her head.

She stuck her tongue out at him and winced as the blender started again. A few very painful minutes later, the milkshakes were done. Tomoyo bounced out of the bedroom to grab one when Shaoran called, and Sakura glared at her.

"What?" Tomoyo asked innocently.

"You lucky bitch." Sakura said, taking a sip of the milkshake.

"It's not my fault you don't listen. I told you not to drink so much."

Naoko stumbled out of the bathroom, groaning. Rika and Chiharu followed in a stupor, led by the two other men in the apartment. Tomoyo and Sakura were still bickering over how _someone_ needed to develop listening skills.

"Oi, shut the hell up." Chiharu frowned, the sound of their argument amplified in her brain.

"Go die." Sakura retorted.

"I wish I could." Naoko sighed.

Rika blinked slowly. She blinked again. Tomoyo stared at her curiously. Suddenly out of nowhere, Rika took a step and slipped. Sakura giggled a little and Rika glared. Eriol helped her up and the group all sucked down the sweet drink.

After sometime of sitting around and conversing, the girls began to get a tad bored. Sakura began to fidget. Shaoran watched her, but after a while became extremely annoyed. She was tapping her fingers on her knees, which were bouncing lightly. He glared at the fidgeting limbs. Finally, he pinned her down on the couch.

"W-what?" She blushed as some of the longer strands of his hair tickled her nose.

"Stop fidgeting, it's annoying." He mumbled into her ear.

She tried to push him off, which only made his smirk grow in size.

"Get a room!" Eriol called.

"Your worse than Chiharu and Yamazaki." Naoko mocked.

Sakura turned bright red and opened her mouth to protest, but Shaoran got off her first with a light pink color dusting his cheeks.

"What time is it?" Rika asked.

"It's 1... Omigod, it's 1!" Chiharu gasped.

"Ooh, it's time for _Setting Suns in Tokyo_!" Tomoyo gasped.

"_Setting Suns in Tokyo_?" Eriol asked.

"It's, like, the best soap opera ever." Sakura explained.

"Oh _god_," Shaoran groaned, "First the fidgeting and now _this_?"

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him as Chiharu changed the channel. The drama began with the classic line of _"Oh, Tarou, how could you?"_

**I didn't see any other way to continue this chapter after that. So, yeah. Sorry again for the late update. I will start working on the next chapter as soon as possible.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I have no words to express the total amount of fail I am feeling right now. I apologize profusely for my lack of update. Here's the next chapter, as we interject a little drama that will become a full-blown fuckfest.**

It had been a few months since Sakura broke up with Toshio. In that time, the friendship between Sakura and Shaoran grew like a weed, but it was more beautiful than a rose. They complimented each other perfectly; what with Sakura's innocent, clumsy, and sweet personality and Shaoran with his nonchalant, confident attitude and strong athletic ability.

Lunches at Pomme had greatly increased the speed at which their friendship grew. Since Tomoyo and Eriol were dating, they preferred to eat lunch with each other and lunches with their friends became a twice-a-work-week thing. Now that winter was fast approaching Sakura and Shaoran were discussing their holiday plans.

"Normally I'd go home and spend them with Dad and Touya, but with the shop I don't know if I'll be able to." Sakura sighed, taking a bite of her croissant.

"You should go back home! Work never beats family for first priority." Shaoran advised.

"I guess so. What do you do for the holidays?"

"I go home, get tackled by all my sisters, get lectured by my mother, enjoy a tense dinner, ask Wei how things have been going at home, play with my niece, have a go with Fanren's husband, console Fanren, then buy tickets to the earliest flight home and leave as soon as possible." Shaoran sipped his coffee calmly.

Sakura stared, croissant having been dropped into her plate during the middle of his explanation.

"All that?"

"To the letter."

"Hey, what does you niece look like?"

Shaoran pulled a picture out of his wallet. It was of a 5-year-old girl with black hair in small pigtails and amber eyes playing in a sandbox. Sakura smiled warmly.

"She's so cute."

"Yeah. It's a shame she's _his_ daughter though."

"Who, Fanren's husband? What's so bad about him?"

"He's a total ass-hat who believes that the Li family assets should be his. Even the company. I'll bet he only married Fanren for the money."

Sakura put her hand on Shaoran's clenched fist to try and calm him down. He sighed, and it loosened. She patted it twice before reaching for her wallet and taking out the money for her share. As she was doing so, she caught sight of her watch and her eyes widened.

"Late again?" Shaoran asked.

Sakura smiled sheepishly at him. He rolled his eyes and set down his coffee, which he had just finished.

"You're the boss of this place, why don't you just set the rules for time? Besides, your big crowd doesn't get out until much later."

"I know, but I also have to schedule around times that I know business people with kids get off on break. Especially around this time when everybody's shopping for Christmas. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Bye, don't trip again!"

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him as she left. A few minutes after she was gone, Shaoran began rooting around in his pockets for money to pay the bill. The waitress came up, smiling brightly.

"Hi. I was just watching you two. Your girlfriend is lovely, you must be so happy with her."

"Wha- oh no. No no no no no no no no. We're not dating, she's just a friend of mine." He stuttered, blushing.

"Oh, really? You two seemed very close, I'm sorry for jumping to such conclusions."

"Er, no problem..."

"Bunko." The waitress smiled.

"Bunko." Shaoran repeated, smiling.

He paid his bill and left. Once he reached the bookstore, he took out his receipt so he could subtract the amount from his weekly budget. He flipped it over and smirked. Written was 'Bunko 649-8236'. He thought back to her platinum blonde hair, which curled around her face, framing it nicely. And her slight figure, definitely a 0 or maybe even 00. Even though he did rather like Sakura's curves and the way her hair brightened her eyes and...

"What am I thinking? We're just friends. Back to Bunko." He muttered to himself.

Sakura sighed and thought back to her lunch with Shaoran that day. Why had she felt such a spark when she touched his hand? It had scared her so much she left as soon as she possibly could, even though she could have really stayed for 10 more minutes and still have arrived on time. She didn't like it. She also felt uncomfortable with how much information he felt okay with giving her about his family.

No doubt, she loved the feeling of intimacy that she got from it. And she also loved the feeling of his skin. It was rough from working, but still not so rough that it was chapped you know? It still retained some of its natural softness. What would it feel like to have those hands on her and-

"Oh God." She blushed, "Stop it, Sakura. That's inapropo."

The bell tingled and she looked up, and who should enter but Shaoran himself? Sakura turned even redder and looked down, suddenly very interested in sorting out the money in the cash register.

Shaoran stared at her for a while, analyzing. What was it about her that had caught his attention when they first met? As she glanced up at him, he realized it was the eyes. Those giant emerald orbs could make you throw yourself into a lion's den. She fidgeted, uncomfortable under his stare. She blushed, remembering her thoughts from before as his hand went up to flick her forehead lightly. She gave him her full attention.

"So rude. I come in and you don't even acknowledge me. It's a wonder you don't have more customers with those manners." He teased dryly.

"You're one to talk! Flirting with every girl who walks your way. Or just aggravating them until they swear at you." She sighed.

"No, I only aggravate you."

She glared at him, but couldn't keep a straight face for long before it broke into a smile like it always did. Shaoran hopped up and seated himself on the counter until she was done with sorting everything out.

"So, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much."

She looked at him, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"You're lying," she glared, "You say nothing happened, but you look just about ready to shit a rainbow. Did your brother-in-law kick the bucket or something?"

He chuckled.

"Nah, but a cute waitress at Pomme gave me her number."

"What the one whose been ogling you for a month?"

"Has she? I didn't notice."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't let it get to your head, it'll get bigger than it already is."

"I thought girls liked guys with a big head."

He winked at her. She stared at him quizzically for a minute or two before realization dawned on her face.

"Ew! Omigod, _ew!_ You know what, get out you perv. Out. Right now." She laughed, hitting him lightly with her purse.

Shaoran laughed along with her. He walked with her to her apartment. He gave her a hug before he left for his place.

"Call the poor girl and put her out of her misery!" She called after him.

She walked into her apartment and sat on the couch. Putting her head in her hands, she felt a pang in her heart. Why was it hurting so much to think of him with another woman? Especially that dark-haired waitress?

**By the way, that above was intentional. Bunko still has light hair. Sakura's just confusing whose who. I'll see you next update ;)**


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